Emanuele Olivieri converted pole position into victory in Race 1 at Imola to claim his second win of the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) season, mathematically secure the Rookie title and take the overall championship lead.
The R-ace GP driver controlled a heavily interrupted race featuring four Safety Car periods, setting the fastest lap while repeatedly managing pressure from MP Motorsport’s Sebastian Wheldon at the restarts. Wheldon finished just 0.189s behind in second, while ART Grand Prix’s Alexandre Munoz completed the podium with his second top-three result of the season following his Spa victory.
The result leaves Olivieri three points clear of Wheldon at the head of the standings, with previous leader Kean Nakamura-Berta remaining in contention after finishing outside the points in 15th. Rashid Al Dhaheri also remains part of the title fight despite retiring following an opening-lap incident.
Post-Qualifying penalties reshape Imola Race 1 grid
Friday’s Qualifying results underwent several changes before the start of Race 1. Marcus Sæter had originally set the second-fastest time in Group B, but the G4 Racing driver was disqualified after a technical infringement involving his front wing and was sent to the back of the grid.
The exclusion promoted Wheldon to second in Group B and ultimately onto the front row alongside pole-sitter Olivieri. Munoz and ART Grand Prix teammate Mattéo Giaccardi formed the second row, while Tomass Štolcermanis dropped to fifth after serving a three-place grid penalty carried over from the opening Zandvoort race.
Nakamura-Berta faced an even greater setback after his five-place penalty from Zandvoort moved him from 14th to 19th. Miguel Costa and Kai Daryanani also served five-place grid drops, while Sæter started 30th following his Qualifying disqualification.
Olivieri leads as Al Dhaheri and Štolcermanis collide
Olivieri made the clean start he needed from pole and retained the lead into the opening sequence of corners. Wheldon immediately came under pressure from Munoz, who attempted to challenge for second, while Giaccardi maintained fourth after starting alongside his ART Grand Prix teammate.
The first major incident occurred further back when Al Dhaheri went off following contact with Štolcermanis. Both championship contender Al Dhaheri and the PREMA Racing rookie retired without completing a lap, while the incident brought out the first Safety Car and immediately neutralised the race.
Racing resumed after two laps behind the Safety Car, with Olivieri heading Wheldon, Munoz and Giaccardi. Alexander Abkhazava had climbed into fifth for MP Motorsport, while CL Motorsport’s Reno Francot followed in sixth as several drivers capitalised on the opening-lap disruption.
Olivieri begins to build advantage over Wheldon
Once the race settled, Olivieri began to demonstrate the pace that had carried him to the top of both Free Practice and Qualifying. The Italian repeatedly lowered the fastest lap and gradually extended his advantage over Wheldon towards two seconds.
The battle behind the leading pair also began to change. Giaccardi ran wide at Acque Minerali and lost two positions, allowing Abkhazava and Francot to move into fourth and fifth respectively while Munoz continued to hold the final podium position.
Olivieri’s growing advantage disappeared on Lap 6 when Alex Ninovic went off for Rodin Motorsport. The second Safety Car returned to the circuit and compressed the field, forcing the R-ace GP driver to prepare for another restart with Wheldon immediately behind.
Wheldon attacks Olivieri at second restart
The race resumed with 11 minutes remaining, and Wheldon immediately tried to take advantage of the reduced gap. He attacked Olivieri into Tamburello, but the pole-sitter successfully defended and retained first place.
Munoz remained close enough to place Wheldon under pressure at the same time, ensuring the MP Motorsport driver could not concentrate solely on attacking the leader. Abkhazava and Francot continued in fourth and fifth, while the battle further down the order remained tightly packed.
The green-flag period proved short-lived. Costa became stranded in the gravel at Rivazza and triggered the third Safety Car, once again eliminating the gaps that Olivieri had started to establish. Costa ultimately retired after completing eight laps.
Olivieri controls another restart
Racing resumed with fewer than five minutes remaining, giving Olivieri another opportunity to control the field from the front. The Italian again managed the restart successfully and kept Wheldon behind, with Munoz maintaining third ahead of Abkhazava and Francot.
Kabir Anurag had climbed into sixth after passing ART Grand Prix teammate Giaccardi, giving the team two cars firmly inside the points. Giaccardi remained seventh despite his earlier mistake, while Salim Hanna, Jules Roussel and FREC debutant Oleksandr Bondarev moved into the fight for the remaining top-10 positions.
Olivieri continued to set the pace and eventually recorded the fastest lap on Lap 13 with a 1:40.415, earning another important championship point.
Late incidents bring out fourth Safety Car
The closing stages produced another series of incidents involving several cars, preventing the field from reaching the chequered flag under green conditions. A fourth Safety Car was deployed, meaning Olivieri did not need to defend another restart before the race ended.
Wheldon crossed the line only 0.189s behind the R-ace GP driver, while Munoz finished another 0.420s back in third. Abkhazava took fourth ahead of Francot, with Anurag recovering to sixth after starting ninth.
Giaccardi finished seventh, followed by Hanna and Roussel, while Bondarev claimed 10th in his first FREC race. Maksimilian Popov, Reza Seewooruthun, Gabriel Gomez and Zhenrui Chi followed before Nakamura-Berta crossed the line 15th, 5.094s behind Olivieri after starting 19th.
Daryanani handed post-race time penalty
The final classification included one additional post-race penalty, with Daryanani receiving 10 seconds under Stewards’ Decision No. 19. The Trident Motorsport driver consequently finished 21st, 16.905s behind the winner.
Andrija Kostić, Jan Przyrowski, Sæter and Andrea Dupé were the final classified drivers, all finishing two laps down following the late-race incidents. René Lammers, Costa, Ninovic, Al Dhaheri and Štolcermanis were all recorded as retirements.
Despite four separate Safety Car interventions, Olivieri completed all 15 laps in 34:08.324 and controlled every restart to secure the maximum available race result.
Olivieri takes FREC championship lead and seals Rookie crown
Olivieri’s victory completed an almost perfect opening phase of his home weekend after he had already topped Free Practice and secured two points for pole position on Friday.
His Race 1 win and fastest lap moved him into the championship lead, three points ahead of Wheldon. Nakamura-Berta remains firmly involved after his difficult morning, while Al Dhaheri’s opening-lap retirement prevented him from adding to his total.
Olivieri also mathematically secured the 2026 Rookie Championship, completing one of his major season objectives before the final races of the campaign. The overall title remains undecided, however, with Race 2 at Imola and the Hockenheim finale still providing significant points opportunities.
Race 2 features a partially reversed grid based on Friday’s Qualifying results and is scheduled to begin at 16:30 CEST.
2026 FREC: Imola Race 1 results
- #73 Emanuele Olivieri — R-ace GP
- #98 Sebastian Wheldon — MP Motorsport — +0.189s
- #95 Alexandre Munoz — ART Grand Prix — +0.609s
- #15 Alexander Abkhazava — MP Motorsport — +0.920s
- #69 Reno Francot — CL Motorsport — +1.585s
- #19 Kabir Anurag — ART Grand Prix — +2.024s
- #27 Mattéo Giaccardi — ART Grand Prix — +2.566s
- #88 Salim Hanna — PREMA Racing — +3.418s
- #24 Jules Roussel — CL Motorsport — +3.543s
- #11 Oleksandr Bondarev — Van Amersfoort Racing — +3.833s
- #33 Maksimilian Popov — Trident Motorsport — +4.028s
- #4 Reza Seewooruthun — Rodin Motorsport — +4.212s
- #78 Gabriel Gomez — Rodin Motorsport — +4.676s
- #28 Zhenrui Chi — MP Motorsport — +4.977s
- #51 Kean Nakamura-Berta — PREMA Racing — +5.094s
- #55 Dion Gowda — Van Amersfoort Racing — +5.352s
- #12 Yuki Sano — R-ace GP — +5.496s
- #3 Saqer Almaosherji — G4 Racing — +5.687s
- #23 Rahim Alibhai — G4 Racing — +6.202s
- #99 Giovanni Maschio — RPM — +6.659s
- #87* Kai Daryanani — Trident Motorsport — +16.905s
- #47 Andrija Kostić — Trident Motorsport — 2 laps
- #8 Jan Przyrowski — RPM — 2 laps
- #67 Marcus Sæter — G4 Racing — 2 laps
- #7 Andrea Dupé — Van Amersfoort Racing — 2 laps
Retired:
- #22 René Lammers — CL Motorsport
- #5 Miguel Costa — RPM
- #2 Alex Ninovic — Rodin Motorsport
- #71 Rashid Al Dhaheri — R-ace GP
- #60 Tomass Štolcermanis — PREMA Racing
Penalties and notes
- #87 Kai Daryanani received a 10-second time penalty under Stewards’ Decision No. 19.
- #67 Marcus Sæter started from the back after his Qualifying 1 disqualification for a front-wing technical infringement.
- #60 Tomass Štolcermanis served a three-place grid penalty carried over from Zandvoort.
- #51 Kean Nakamura-Berta served a five-place grid penalty carried over from Zandvoort.
- #5 Miguel Costa and #87 Kai Daryanani also served five-place grid drops before the race.
